Teaching Maize and Blue

Productive disagreement can deepen learning, but instructors need practical strategies for navigating it effectively. Teaching Maize and Blue will be an interactive, web-based learning tool that helps higher-education instructors surface disagreement, guide constructive conversations, and create meaningful opportunities for students to engage across differences.

The tool will introduce low-lift teaching practices based on the Michigan PAUSE method: Pause, Appreciate, Understand, Share, and Explore. It will complement the existing student-facing Talking Maize and Blue module and launch first at U-M, with the potential to expand to other universities.

Development will be led by the CRLT Players (opens in a new tab) in collaboration with the Talking Maize and Blue Task Force, the Duderstadt Center Studios team, and specialists in faculty development, educational technology, media production, accessibility, and evaluation.

Audience

• Faculty, graduate student instructors, and instructional assistants at the University of Michigan.

What it offers

The learning tool will combine videos, student perspectives, interactive games, classroom demonstrations, reflection activities, and customized resources.

• Explore the benefits and challenges of engaging disagreement in the classroom.
• Watch CRLT Players demonstrate the PAUSE method in a range of teaching contexts.
• Hear students describe how they experience and learn from classroom disagreement.
• Reflect on your own attitudes, experiences, and concerns related to difficult conversations.
• Compare your responses with those of other higher-education instructors.
• Identify practical strategies you could use - or might use with additional support.
• Receive follow-up resources tailored to your interests and teaching needs.

The learning experience

• Classroom scenarios – Short videos will portray common concerns, overly optimistic expectations, and realistic examples of working through disagreement in teaching and learning environments.
• Interactive reflection game – Instructors will consider their experiences with disagreement and predict how similarly situated peers might respond.
• Student perspectives – Video compilations will highlight how students encounter disagreement in different learning environments and what they gain from those experiences.
• PAUSE demonstrations – CRLT Players will model strategies for helping students practice pausing, appreciating, understanding, sharing, and exploring across multiple disciplines and classroom settings.
• Teaching-strategy game – Instructors will sort PAUSE-related practices according to whether they would use them, would not use them, or might use them with additional support.
• Personalized follow-up – Participants will receive links to relevant resources and further guidance based on the strategies they identify.

Project timeline

• Fall 2026 – Design the learning tool, interactive activities, teaching strategies, video scripts, evaluation plan, and hosting webpage; gather initial feedback.
• Winter 2027 – Revise the design, develop written content, begin the technical build, prepare video production, and refine launch and evaluation plans.
• Spring 2027 – Film and edit video components, create graphics, and advance outreach and publicity.
• Summer 2027 – Finalize and integrate the videos, complete the web-based tool, and conduct pilot user testing.
• Fall 2027 – Launch Teaching Maize and Blue for the U-M community.

Impact on the public good

Teaching Maize and Blue will help faculty, graduate student instructors, and instructional assistants build confidence in addressing disagreement as a productive part of learning. By offering brief, accessible, and practical guidance, the project will support instructors who may not have previously incorporated structured disagreement into their teaching.

Over time, the complementary instructor- and student-facing tools can help establish a shared language and campus culture in which respectful disagreement is expected, valued, and practiced. Anonymous interaction data will also help U-M better understand instructors’ experiences and identify additional ways to support constructive dialogue in higher education.